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Summary
- A Catholic woman becomes a nun or sister by stages: aspirancy and postulancy, a novitiate of at least twelve months (canon 648), temporary vows of three to six years that may be extended to nine (canons 655 and 657), and final vows at 21 or over (canon 658).
- The Vatican’s 2018 instruction Cor Orans sets initial formation in monasteries of enclosed nuns at nine to twelve years; active communities such as the Sisters of the Holy Cross describe about nine years.
- Strictly, a nun professes solemn vows and lives a contemplative life in a monastery, usually enclosed, while a sister professes simple vows and works in the world; both are addressed as Sister.
- Canon law makes entry to the novitiate invalid before the age of 17 and for a married woman while the marriage lasts; a divorced woman usually needs an annulment, and most communities expect candidates to be free of debt.
- Upper age limits are set by each community: the Rockford Poor Clares and the Sisters of the Holy Cross accept women from 18 to 35, the Sisters of Loretto have no set limit, and women making final vows in the United States in 2024 were 38 on average.
- CARA counted 33,135 religious sisters, nuns included, in the United States at the start of 2025, against 178,740 in 1965.
- Orthodox, Anglican and some Protestant churches also have nuns and religious communities of women.
Bibliography (Click to show)
- King James Version: Matthew 19:12, Matthew 19:21 and 1 Corinthians 7:32–35, BibleGateway.
- Code of Canon Law (1983), canons 573–606, norms common to all institutes of consecrated life (cann. 597, 599–601, 604), vatican.va.
- Code of Canon Law (1983), canons 607–709, religious institutes (cann. 641–668: admission, novitiate, profession, cloister, goods), vatican.va.
- Code of Canon Law (1983), canons 998–1165, holy orders and marriage (cann. 1024, 1141), vatican.va.
- Code of Canon Law (1983), canons 1191–1204, vows (can. 1192), vatican.va.
- Catechism of the Catholic Church, 914–933, the consecrated life, vatican.va.
- Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, Cor Orans, instruction on women’s contemplative life, 2018 (nos. 192, 251–288), Holy See Press Office.
- Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, Ecclesiae Sponsae Imago, instruction on the Ordo virginum, 2018 (no. 84), vatican.va.
- Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate, “Frequently Requested Church Statistics” (U.S. religious sisters 1965–2025; worldwide 1970–2023), CARA, Georgetown University.
- Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate, Women and Men Professing Perpetual Vows in Religious Life: The Profession Class of 2024, for the USCCB, 2025, usccb.org.
- Carol Schuck Scheiber, “Obstacles and options for older discerners”, VISION Vocation Network, National Religious Vocation Conference.
- VISION editors, “Resources for older discerners or those with physical and developmental differences”, VISION Vocation Network, National Religious Vocation Conference.
- Poor Clare Colettine nuns, Corpus Christi Monastery, Rockford, Illinois, “A Call to This Life”, rockfordpoorclares.org.
- Sisters of the Holy Cross, “Our Formation Process”, cscsisters.org.
- Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace, “Stages and Timing to Become a Sister”, csjp.org.
- Sisters of Loretto, “Frequently Asked Questions”, lorettocommunity.org.
- Archivists for Congregations of Women Religious, glossary, “Sister or Nun”, ctah.archivistsacwr.org.
- Orthodox Church in America, Department of Christian Education, “Monasticism” (with the handout “Who are Monks and Nuns?”), oca.org.
- Canons of the Church of England, Section DA, Religious Communities, churchofengland.org.
- Evangelical Sisterhood of Mary, “About us”, en.kanaan.org; German page “Über uns”, kanaan.org.
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